Expecting
by Jeice Lover
Summary: When Marty left Beach City, he left something behind. When Vidalia goes looking for him, she finds something better. A friend who can help her to shoulder what she has, and who can keep her from feeling the weight of such a heavy burden.


"And so then I said, keyboard? More like off-keyboard!" Greg grinned as he finished up a joke he was telling Rose. She didn't understand it entirely, but she laughed nonetheless. He was just so cute the way he looked when he got all excited about telling his little stories. It was a nice day on the beach: warm sand beneath, mild sun above, and the gentle 'swish' of waves filling their ears as it grasped for the shore.

"Hm~ Well, it sounds like you really told him about what is and isn't a keyboard," Rose smiled. Greg leaned back against the sand on his elbows, not minding the grains getting into his hair.

"Yeah, well, you know. Gotta' know your stuff in the music business." He smiled at her, and saw her gentle expression looking back at him. A soft sigh escaped him as he gazed up at her face. He always felt so relaxed when he was with her, not like... that one man he didn't care to think about and hoped he wouldn't have to again. He was content here, at peace. Especially with her.

It was like you could just forget all of your troubles here and let them drift away on the waves...

"Um... hello?" The two turned their heads when they heard the tentative voice. A woman was standing uncertainly by the gaping hole in the fence, still unrepaired since Greg had driven his van through it that fateful night (Pearl had stressed over it for a while, but Rose had convinced her that they could do something about it later. It still hadn't.).

"Hey there," Greg greeted. He waved a hand at her in greeting, and Rose followed his example, if not for the simple sake of politeness. "Did you want to come out on the beach? It's pretty nice over here, we wouldn't mind."

"Um, no, I'm... not here for the beach... You're, um... you're the Star Child, right? Mr. Universe?" Greg was a bit taken aback at the use of his stage name, he hadn't thought people would know him by that, since only Rose had attended the concert.

"Yeah, that's me. You can call me Greg, though," he waved off the bolder title he had used while playing his music. "You're... Vidalia, right?" He remembered her vaguely from when he and Marty had come to this place, though the extent of his memories of her went to her holding onto his arm as she wandered off (after a comment which he still couldn't figure out if it was a compliment or a sarcastic remark).

"Mmhm, I'm Vidalia. The thing is... Greg, I... sort of wanted to talk to you, since I heard you were staying here." He saw the woman carefully step over the sharper edges of the fence, and gingerly made her way across the sand until she was standing over them. "... Marty's your manager, right, you guys are friends?" Greg narrowed his eyes at the mention of his manager, and the idea that they had once been friends, but he slowly nodded, uncertain of where this might be going. "Do... you guys still keep in touch?"

"Not really, no," he replied awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. This had been a bit awkward in explaining to Rose why he had decided to leave Marty once, he didn't care to do it again, especially with a woman who was essentially a stranger to him. "He and I kind of had a falling-out and, well... we sort of stopped talking to each other after that. I don't know where he is now."

"...Oh." Vidalia pressed her lips together, and took to staring at some of the sand over her shoulder as she rubbed her arm uncertainly.

"Um, are you alright?" Greg looked at Rose, surprised. This was the first time she had spoken since Vidalia had come up to them. He hadn't expected her to get involved with the conversation. "You look a little pale for a human. Are you sick?"

"N-no, I'm good. I got it out of my system this morning, I think... Uh, no- I mean-" She suddenly backtracked on herself, and seemed to be trying to backpedal from the subject. "I-I'm fine. It's nothing, really."

Greg's mouth opened ever so slightly as he examined her closely. Her body language was way different than when they had met previously, she was so jumpy and nervous, and she kept fidgeting uncertainly. Not to mention her pale complexion. And why did she come to him asking where Marty was? And that weird way that she kept rubbing her hand over her stomach and... Ooooohhhhh.

"Vidalia?" She looked at him suspiciously as he said her name, tensing her hand almost protectively over her abdomen. "Are you... Um... did you and Marty... you know..." He stumbled awkwardly over his words, even twirling his fingers around each other in the air in some odd attempt to get his point across. "Did you two maybe... you know... _together_? And you're looking for him because..."

"...Yeah, I am. And it's his." A sigh escaped her, and she turned her head from him. "Look, I'm sorry I came over here and bugged you about all of this. I was just looking for Marty, maybe try to find some way to reach him, but... well, you don't." She turned away from him and Rose, and started trudging back up the beach, hands stuffed in the pockets of her leather jacket. "I'll just get out of here now."

"Vidalia! Hold on a second!" She paused, letting her boot rest in the sand, and turned around as Greg came up to her, scrambling through the sand. "Um, look. This is really none of my business to get into this with you... I mean, this was all Marty's biz... he should be here to take care of this with you... but, he's not, and I am, and... I don't think anyone should have to deal with something like this alone." Vidalia stared at him, openly perplexed, and he could feel Rose's gentle, curious gaze against his back. "So... I really can't do much to help you out here, but... if you ever need anything... maybe some help, or some money to get stuff.. I can't offer much, but if there's anything you need, I'll do my best to help you."

"...You... you really don't have to," she said hesitantly, although there was perhaps a spark of relief in her eyes. "I mean, I never came here expecting you to-"

"Don't worry about it," he cut her off, holding up a hand. "I'm serious. If you ever need help with something, just swing on by my van, I promise I'll do whatever I can to help. Even if Marty's not around to help out, I promise I'll try."

"That's... really cool of you," Vidalia murmured, a small smile finally sneaking onto her face. Her shoulders noticeably lowered, as if there was some great weight she had been carrying that she finally had relieved. "I... don't know what to say."

"Then don't say anything," Greg smiled. "You two can just get on home and get some rest, you're looking a little shaky on your feet there."

"Thanks, I will. I drove my car down here, so I can get back on my own. You can get back to your date or whatever."

"Not a problem," he assured her. He offered out a hand and, after a moment of hesitation, she placed hers into it, shaking briefly before pulling away again.

"I mean it, Greg... thank you." She gave him the briefest of smiles, and started back towards the road, waving behind her as she went. He stayed there, waving at her until she was finally gone from sight, and then returning to Rose's side where he plopped himself down again.

"So, what was all that about?" Rose asked curiously, looking at him as he re-adjusted himself comfortably on the sand. "And why did you say 'both'? She came here alone, didn't she?"

"Ah, well," Greg chuckled nervously, brushing some of his bangs back. "It's sort of hard to explain, it'd probably take a while." Rose only smiled.

"I think we have a while."


End file.
